


Half A Meter Until You

by Shimegami



Category: Free!
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, First Crush, Free! Kink Meme, Gen, M/M, Puppy Love, Shota!Haru has dokis for Makoto, what are tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-17
Updated: 2013-12-08
Packaged: 2017-12-26 21:54:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/970698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shimegami/pseuds/Shimegami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haruka had never expected that the crybaby best friend he knows would grow up into someone so tall, strong, and handsome, and it's giving him funny feelings.  AKA Haruka mysteriously de-ages and Makoto gets to take care of him.  Cuteness follows.</p><p>De-anon from the kink meme, still in progress.  -does a dance-</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Aderp. I'm kind of stuck on this fill at the moment so I decided to post it here for the time being until I work through this stupid new chapter that's giving me problems. Yep. -rolls around-
> 
> This isn't going to be a relationship fic, especially not with shota! Haru, but I will probably write in hints towards older!HaruMako because I can't help myself.

It had been a perfectly normal day.

Makoto had woken up like normal, gotten dressed like normal, ate breakfast and gave half of it away to Ren and Ran like normal, and had headed out of his house to make his way to Haru's house to pick him up like normal.

It had kept being normal, too, as Makoto had rung the doorbell and received no answer, like always, and had let himself into the house. He had gone straight to the bathroom because of course Haru would be there. Just like always.

Except the previously completely almost sickeningly normal day had ended when he stepped into the bathroom and the hamper was empty.

Makoto stares at it for a moment in long disbelief. There were always clothes in the hamper, because Haru was almost always in the bath when he came over. Not seeing any was like...like a fish swim in the air. It didn't happen.

“Haru...?” He calls experimentally, although he doesn't expect an answer since Haru likes to submerge himself a lot and doesn't always hear. Maybe Haru had just stripped elsewhere in the house. “I'm coming in.”

He opens the door for the bath and...it's empty.

It's empty. It doesn't even have water in it.

Makoto can't quite process this. It's _never_ empty. Haru drains it and scrubs it completely clean twice a day and always refills it if he's staying home. It's only empty of water when Haru's out of the house. But here it is, dry and sparkling clean as if it hadn't been touched since Haru reverently cleans it for the night before bed.

Makoto has half a mind to go outside and check the house numbers to make sure he hasn't accidentally wandered into some stranger's identical house instead of Haru's. But no, there's his dolphin toy that Makoto had gotten him as a gag gift when they were thirteen. It's obviously Haru's house, so where's Haru?

The surprise is slowly eroded and replaced by worry. If the bath hasn't been touched since last night, then that means that Haru hasn't woken up yet, which is rare. He's a surprisingly early riser, possibly drilled into him by his late grandmother or by his motivation to have time for a good soak before school, but either way he wakes up earlier than Makoto does despite his admittedly-lazy temperament. If he's not up yet, maybe he's sick.

Makoto backs out of the bathroom and heads towards Haru's room, mentally going through a checklist of things to do if Haru is indeed sick. He'll need to call the school if Haru can't attend, possibly excuse himself too if it's bad enough that Haru will need care...maybe even try to move Haru to his own house since his mother doesn't work and she'd be glad to smother Haru with care for a day. He'd need to inform Gou and the others in case it affected practice, too. Maybe plan a doctor visit, also a grocery trip since mackerel was not a recommended food to nurse someone to health no matter what Haru thought.

Caught up in his planning, Makoto doesn't notice and so almost runs over the small shape that steps out into the hallway in front of him.

It's sudden and scares him, so he jumps backwards with a yelp, hitting the wall in his fright. It's not Haru, Haru's not that short and he lives alone, and Makoto's thoughts careen wildly for a moment – _Haru's house is haunted, I've got to tell him_ is followed by _I wonder how much an exorcism costs_ – before Makoto forces himself to look at what startled him so.

And he stares.

It's like looking at a picture. One from long ago, that you could swear you didn't remember someone looking like that but the picture tells otherwise. Memories, after all, were tricky things, blending your current and past impressions into one so they weren't as accurate as you thought, like how Makoto could remember Haru's face when he was younger fairly well, but not _perfectly_ because he sees Haru as a teenager every day now and of course that affects how he remembers Haru when he was ten.

He is being reminded of all this because that is what he's seeing now, looking up at him with distrust and absolutely no recognition of who Makoto is.

He's seeing Haru, aged about ten as if he'd stepped out of Makoto's foggy memories and crystallized himself into the present, and it makes no sense because he'd last seen Haru only last night as the seventeen-year-old he should be. It makes no sense and Makoto can only stare in disbelief at this strange...Haru-memory, slack-jawed.

The strange, impossible, memory-turned-solid Haru stares back at Makoto, face pulling into a distrustful scowl.

“Who are you? Where are mom and dad? Where's Grandmama?”


	2. Chapter 2

Today has been weird so far. Haru is doing his best to hide his fear and worry about the weird morning by scowling at the stranger that's barged into his house.

He'd woken up in his own room that was not his own room. He had recognized the furniture – the bed was still his bed, his desk his desk, and so on, all in the places they usually were – but nothing on them was familiar. Foreign books. Foreign objects. Cleaner than it usually was, too. He hadn't recognized the sheets on his bed, and when he crawled out of it he realized he hadn't recognized his clothes either. He had been wearing too-big clothes – the t-shirt is twice his size and hangs on him like a dress, the neckline almost falling off his shoulder. The boxer shorts had just fallen straight off and he'd kicked them to the side.

He had then noticed another thing wrong – aside from the beeping alarm that had woken him up, the house was completely silent. There were no sounds of frying food as Mom made breakfast, no sounds of the radio as Dad read his newspaper, no sounds of creaking floorboards as Grandmama made her way about the house, humming under her breath like she did in the mornings.

There was absolutely no sounds at all aside from him.

He'd checked his parent's room first, and had stared for forever when he'd opened the door and found...nothing. The room was empty. Empty of furniture, empty of people. It was like they'd vanished.

In a panic he had whirled around and ran to Grandmama's room, only to find the same. It wasn't completely empty, unlike his parent's room, but it was now filled with boxes, stored stuff, instead of lived-in furniture and gentle hands that always had a story for him.

They were gone. All gone. His family was _gone_.

In a way, Haru's glad the stranger had showed up, thus stopping him from started to cry in panic. It's a little reassuring, because even if he doesn't know the guy, another person is here, and that means that people are still alive and around and Haru isn't completely alone. It means that maybe his family is just misplaced, not completely vanished, and maybe he can find them.

Still, wandering into someone's house is rude, and Haru doesn't know where his family is, so he continues scowling at the strange teenager. He's wearing the school uniform of the highschool a couple of blocks away. Haru hadn't paid much attention to it since it didn't have a swim club.

The stranger is staring right back at Haru, face frozen like a fish in surprise. Like he doesn't believe what he's seeing, which is weird, since Haru's lived in this house all his life. Who else would be here?

“Who are you?” He repeats, forcefully, in case the guy didn't understand the first time. Now that he's looking at him clearly, he looks...familiar. Like he's seen him somewhere before, but he doesn't know any highschoolers.

It's the colors, he decides. The hair and eyes are the same color as Makoto's, so he feels like he's seen him before cause he's seen them on Makoto. Only Makoto is his age – Haru is a whole five months older, even – and Makoto's eyes are always wide and seemingly stuck in “about to cry” mode and he's skinny and just a bit smaller than Haru is, although lately he's been growing taller and is nearly taller than Haru now. Which is annoying. Haru's older and Makoto's a skinny little crybaby who clings to him, Haru's the one who needs to be bigger and stronger to protect him. The stranger in front of him certainly doesn't need to hide behind Haru – Haru's never seen anyone so tall. If he grew anymore he'd bump his head into the top of the doorframes.

Maybe this is a relation of Makoto's. A cousin or something. Makoto's never talked about a cousin, though, or any other relations other than his parents and his toddler siblings, and Makoto talks about everything he knows to Haru.

The stranger moves his mouth a few times, looking more like a fish, until he manages to speak.

“H-Haru...?”

Haru flinches and backs away a bit. That was his name, why did this guy know his name? He doesn't know him. He's even using “Haru”, something only Makoto and his mother occasionally call him. Usually Makoto, because his mother named him so she thinks he should use his full name. Haru hates his full name, it's too girly and makes stupid kids call him names.

“Who are you? Why do you know my name? I don't know you.” The panic is coming back, because everything is _weird_ and his family's gone and he's with a strange guy in his house that knows his name.

It's scary.

“Haru...” The stranger sighs, biting his lip in a way that makes Haru think of Makoto again. Makoto always did that when he was being wishy-washy. Slowly stranger-guy crouches down, folding those really long legs until he's more level with Haru's height. “Haru, I know this is weird, but...it's me. I'm Makoto.”

That's impossible. Makoto is five months younger than Haru and still a centimeter shorter, and Haru is doing his best to drink his milk and keep that height difference. There's no way that stranger-guy is Makoto, it's _impossible_.

“You're lying.” His voice is all wavy and frail. “You're lying.”

“I'm not lying, I...Haru. It's...I don't know what to say. But I can tell you that I'm not lying. I'm Makoto, we're supposed to be going to high school right now together. But...but you're...younger than you should be. I don't know what's happened.” Stranger-guy who is definitely lying runs his hand through his hair, and despite his lying Haru flinches because there's no denying that it's the same color, same style as his friend. But Makoto isn't in high school.

Haru shakes his head slightly. He doesn't go to high school. This is all weird, and it's scary. Haru doesn't know what to do.

He needs to find someone he knows. He needs to find his family. Maybe he should even leave the house, run to Makoto's and tell _his_ parents that there's a scary guy trying to be his best friend as if he's playing make-believe about going back in time.

He needs to find his family. Maybe they're just elsewhere in the house and he hasn't found them yet. Maybe the stranger-guy is hiding them. Maybe they're in trouble. He has to find them.

He bolts from the hallway, ignoring stranger-guy's startled “Haru, wait!”. He's only checked the bedrooms, maybe his parents are just playing a prank on him, sometimes his Grandmama gets weird ideas...

He stumbles into the living room, and looks around frantically. They're not here.

He's about to move onto the kitchen when something catches his eye. And he freezes.

The family shrine isn't used much. Apparently for a while there had been a picture of his grandpa but he'd died before Haru was born, and there hadn't been any other deceased family to honor. But now it's open, with fresh incense stuck into the holder waiting to be used, and there's a picture.

His throat closes up when he looks at it. It's not right. Grandmama was fine. She'd read him to sleep just yesterday, stroking his hair and wishing him a good night as he fell asleep. Grandmama was alive and fine, so what was her picture doing there?

He doesn't understand.

His eyes flit around the living room, trying to find an explanation. There's nothing, nothing but the absence of decorations, things that had always been in the living room before like his Grandmama's Japanese doll and the photos his mom liked to put up, and stranger-guy standing in the doorway and watching him in worry.

His eyes settle on something blue on the floor. It's a trophy of some sort, and there's a photo next to it. He sees himself, and Makoto – _why is Makoto taller than he is in the picture he doesn't understand_ – and two kids he doesn't know, a blond and a redhead. They're all holding the trophy together, and Haru doesn't understand because he's never swam on a team. He only swims freestyle. And next to it, up on the shelves, are other pictures. Stranger-guy is in one, standing next to...next to...someone. With black hair and blue eyes the same shade as what the mirror shows him, but Haru's never seen that face before.

The floorboards creak as stranger-guy comes closer, moving surprisingly softly for such a big guy. Haru's frozen, he can't find it in himself to move. All he can see is the picture. He doesn't get it. He doesn't understand. _What's going on._

“Haru-chan.”

He looks automatically towards stranger-guy. _Haru-chan_. Makoto calls him that a lot, he still can't seem to break him of the habit even after all these years they've been friends. Stranger-guy's face is very soft and open and gentle, just like Makoto's face. It's the same as Makoto's face only not, and he has Makoto's eyes and hair and the voice is different but he still somehow _sounds_ like Makoto. All fuzzy edges and sweetness, like a pillow.

He wasn't lying. Haru suddenly understands. _He wasn't lying._

He's looking at Makoto. Somehow older, somehow a teenager, somehow the world is all older and Haru has no idea what's going on. Everything's different, even Makoto, and it's scary.

Haru takes a breath, and bursts into tears.


	3. Chapter 3

It took a while for Haru to stop crying.

A second after he'd started, strong arms had suddenly wrapped around him, drawing him into a broad chest that was warm and worlds away from what he was used to, but Makoto still kind of smelled like Makoto always did. It was a weird feeling, to be wrapped up so thoroughly by a presence that he was used to clinging to his back in fright, but it was nice. Comforting. All the good of his best friend wrapped up in a package big enough to hold him tightly and be the one to comfort Haru for once. So he'd hid his face in big-Makoto's shoulder and cried until all his tears dried up.

When Haru finally pulled back a little, still sniffling and mumbling an apology caught in hiccups for covering his jacket in snot, Makoto had just laughed softly, murmuring that it was fine, it would wash out, and Haru became further convinced that this really was Makoto. Only Makoto was like that, making sure everyone else was happy first and not caring about himself.

It almost made him want to cry again, since it was more proof that everything was all Wrong, but Haru wasn't about to cry like that again. He was ten years old, he was a big boy now. Ten-year-olds didn't sob snot all over their friend's clothes.

Makoto had put him down at the living room table, quickly making him some hot chocolate, and Haru was now sipping at that, watching this new big-Makoto move around the kitchen making breakfast. He had watched as he'd called his school – “Well, you certainly can't go to your own classes like this, Haru-chan,” he'd said, laughing softly – and now he was watching as Makoto bustled around, dressed in some weird blue apron. His mother's apron didn't look like that.

He's watching, because it's weird. Would...would Makoto really grow up into this guy? It's hard to think about. He sees where they're the same – the hair hasn't changed, and although they're not so large in his face anymore his eyes are still the same, a bright green filled with softness like spring, and that smile is as soft and full of kindness as it's always been. But there's a lot of differences, too. Big-Makoto is just that, big. He's maybe a hand shorter than the doorframe, and Haru doesn't think his arms would fit around his shoulders. The Makoto he knows always carries himself a bit hunched over, folded into himself, hands clinging to each other when they're not fisted into Haru's shirt. This Makoto is tall and stands so, and he moves with confidence and purpose – although his shoulders aren't as straight as they could be, Haru notices. Of course Makoto would still slouch a bit.

Still, despite the size being the biggest change, Haru keeps focusing on his face.

It looks a lot different. Where little-Makoto's face was fluffy and all round curves, big-Makoto has angles and sharp lines. His chin is pointy and strong, and there's no round cheeks at all. His face is all strong and sharp, and yet his facial expression remains gentle. It's the kind of face his mother calls “handsome”, like her daytime TV actors. Looking at it, Haru has to agree. It's nice to look at, and it's fascinating because he can't see just where it changes from the baby-faced best friend he knows into this. Big-Makoto is pretty enough to be on TV and Haru can't stop looking at his face and wondering how it changed.

Makoto turns a bit to smile at him, and Haru feels his cheeks go hot. He hides his face in his mug, because he doesn't know what to do. This Makoto is handsome, and tall, and very different while still being Makoto. Haru doesn't know how to act around him.

Which is silly, because it's still Makoto, but that doesn't stop the jitters from forming in his stomach like little butterflies whenever big-Makoto catches him looking. It's like the feeling he gets when he races, but a person is causing it instead. How weird.

“Oh no!”

Big-Makoto yelps just like little-Makoto. Haru blinks slowly as he flails, turning off the stove and blowing on the pan, which is now smoking a bit. The smell of burning stuff floats into the living room. Apparently big-Makoto isn't any better of a cook than little-Makoto, either – Haru remembers when Makoto had tried to make a cake for his birthday. Even the stray cats wouldn't eat the leftovers. It was partially because Makoto was too easily distracted and ended up not paying attention, and partially because Makoto ate _really weird_ things so his sense of taste was probably funky. He kept putting pineapple on his pizza, for one.

“Ah, geez...Haru always makes this look so easy...” Makoto mumbles to himself. Haru blinks again. He cooks? He likes watching his mom cook and he's picked up a lot of recipes, but he's never really tried on his own yet. He wonders if he's a good cook. Does Makoto like to eat his cooking?

Makoto doesn't manage to salvage whatever he was frying – Haru thinks it was mackerel, and he's kind of annoyed at the waste – but he does manage to make some instant miso soup okay. And rice, because it's hard to make a rice cooker go wrong.

It's nothing like Mom's cooking, and Haru takes a long drink of his soup to stop the knot from forming in his throat. It's okay, he's a big kid, he won't cry just because his family isn't here. His mom and dad are just fine living in Tokyo from what big-Makoto had said. Tokyo which might as well be a world away since Haru only knew it from TV. And Grandmama is...he doesn't want to think about it, so he distracts himself by drinking the rest of his hot chocolate. He'll just have to test out what his mother's taught him and keep big-Makoto from the kitchen so he won't burn anymore of Haru's mackerel.

After Haru's eaten most of his breakfast, Makoto puts down the teacup he'd been drinking from, watching Haru carefully. Haru ducks his head, feeling shy. He's not used to feeling shy, especially not around his best friend, but big-Makoto is weird and different.

“I wonder if Mrs. Nanase kept your clothes from this age...you can't stay all day in that,” Makoto muses, and Haru looks down at himself. He's been wearing the same oversized t-shirt all morning. He's managed to put together that his...older-Haru had probably worn it to bed. He tugs at the side. It's so big, he got this big? It's not as big as Makoto, though, and that makes him frown.

“Well, if all else fails we can borrow some of Ren's clothes...you two are now the same age, although I think Ren's a little bigger,” Makoto continues, before sighing softly. “I just don't understand what's going on...things like this shouldn't happen outside of movies.”

Haru just nods, he's not sure what else to say. He doesn't know, either – all he knows is that he went to bed like normal and woke up in the future. Just like movies, but movies aren't real. But there's no use worrying about it if he doesn't understand how it happened.

And Ren's now the same age as him? That's weird. Ren and Ran were squirming drooly three-year-olds in his mind, it was impossible to guess how they'd be his age.

“Well, I guess we'll try to handle that as it comes along. First things first is to clean up and get you some clothes, Haru-chan. Are you finished eating?” The gentle smile big-Makoto directs towards him makes his face burn for some reason, and he slowly nods, showing his bowls to be empty. He feels really happy when the smile widens in approval.

“Good. Then I'll take these dishes into the kitchen and try to see if we can find you something better to wear.” Makoto stands up as he talks, grabbing the dirty dishes and taking them to the kitchen. Haru watches him as he rinses the bowls and places them in the sink the clean later.

Haru gets up, grabbing his empty cocoa mug that was left and bringing it into the kitchen to help, because well, this is still his house and making Makoto do all the work is bad. He moves to grab his usual footstool that he uses to help his mom do the dishes and pauses.

It's gone.

A quick glance around shows it's not in the kitchen anywhere. But that makes sense. This is the future. Older-Haru doesn't need a footstool to do the dishes, probably. He and big-Makoto can probably do the dishes side by side and can reach all the cabinets to put them away without needing to climb on anything at all.

“Here.” Long tanned fingers gently take the mug from his hands, and Makoto smiles at him gently before adding the mug to the sink. Haru finds himself blushing and looks at his feet. He grabs at the hem of the t-shirt and twists it in his hands.

He can't help in his own house. He doesn't like that. He can't help just because he's too short and now Makoto's bigger than him and Haru has to rely on him. That's never happened before, it's always the other way around.

Haru doesn't like it.

“Come on, let's go dig through the storage for clothes.” A hand appears in front of his face, and Haru looks up through his eyelashes. Big-Makoto is smiling down at him like always, TV-star face gentle and sweet. Haru hesitates, but he never could refuse Makoto when he looked so sweet, and for some reason it's a million times worse now that he's so big, so he shyly slides his hand into Makoto's.

Makoto's hand engulfs his completely, long fingers and warm palm wrapping completely around his paler ones, and his hand looks so tiny in comparison.

Too tiny, and his stomach twists uncomfortably looking at it. It shouldn't be this way. Makoto is his best friend, not his mom or brother, he shouldn't have to be holding Haru's hand like he's Ren or Ran. Why was it? Why?

He doesn't understand.

He clings to the hand still, though, because big-Makoto or not, Makoto still cares about him and that's the only thing that's not Wrong in this weird, scary future.


	4. Chapter 4

They manage to find a single box of clothes. It's mostly formalwear and traditional wear, though. His mother had always been the type to say that letting things get used by someone else was better than letting them must in storage, so most of Haru's clothes she donated or gave away when he outgrew them.

Most went to Makoto's house for Ren and Ran to wear, anyways, and big-Makoto laughs a bit and says that he should have expected that and taken Haru to his house first thing.

Makoto makes him wear the single yukata from the box that fits. It's the one that he wears...well, not _now_ , but in...his time. Where he's supposed to be ten. It's older and more worn-looking than when he wore it, according to his memories, only a few weeks ago for the festival. Just another thing about the future that makes Haru's throat close up. As the morning goes on, it's getting a little easier to ignore it.

He doesn't know why he had to change if they're just going to be going to Makoto's house anyways. It's just up the alley stairs and down the street a bit, and the t-shirt covered him enough to be publicly decent. But big-Makoto, just like the Makoto he knows, fusses and says that it's not proper. Haru doesn't understand. A swimsuit covers far less and that's proper to wear in public, why not this? Manners are weird.

Still, Makoto wants him to wear it, and it's not like he really cares. So he wears the yukata. He likes this yukata anyways, a dark blue one with lighter blue bubble patterns, a perfect pattern in his opinion. Everything's better with water.

After he's changed, it's time to go to Makoto's house. He stands by the entrance, watching Makoto put his shoes on. The shoes are huge, maybe almost twice the size of his feet or more. Haru spends a minute thinking that big-Makoto is surely a faster swimmer than his current times, with built-in flippers like those. He's a bit jealous – does older-Haru have big feet too?

He looks at the shoe rack, and sees several pairs of shoes. Undoubtedly “his”. He pulls out a pair, a set of sneakers. They are big, but not as big as Makoto's shoes.

“Ah, that's right...” Makoto says, and Haru looks up at him. “You don't have any shoes that fit, do you? There weren't any in that box, and we already packed it all away...”

His brows furrow together, lips pursing in an expression Haru recognizes as his friend's thinking face. It looks different on big-Makoto, not so much an exaggerated pout anymore since the lips don't stick out so much. He can't imagine big-Makoto pouting, his lips look to then to make a proper one.

Makoto makes a soft sound, the sign he's decided on something. It's so weird to see all the little signs and cues he recognizes as being his friend coming from such a bigger person. It's almost like he's seeing double. He hopes it doesn't give him a headache.

“Right then,” Makoto states as he finishes getting his shoes on and stands up. Haru follows him with his eyes, debating asking about what Makoto thought of about his lack of shoes, when he gets his answer. Before he could open his mouth to ask, Makoto leans over and picks him up.

He doesn't expect it, and he instinctively grabs wildly at Makoto's shoulders to cling and steady himself, managing to hold back a surprised sound that would probably sound silly. He hasn't been picked up for quite a long time, his father saying that he's too old and heavy to be carried. He'd stopped when Haru got about six, and strained a bit even then. Haru's father was just a normal salaryman, after all, and not one to bother with improving his physical condition.

But big-Makoto holds him as if he's as light as the kittens around the neighborhood, arms as steady as rock. Big-Makoto is strong, stronger than he ever thought Makoto would ever be, and he blinks rapidly, bewildered and trying to make sense of being held so easily by someone who still cries at thunderstorms in his memory.

“All right then, we're off!” Makoto says cheerfully, and Haru's grip on his shoulders tightens as they start walking. He hasn't been carried in forever, it's actually kind of scary. The ground is so far away thanks to how tall Makoto is now, and he doesn't feel in control at all because he isn't. He doesn't like the sensation.

But Makoto continues to hold him tightly, not faltering once even going down the steep stairs towards his house. The firmness of his grip and body gives Haru something to cling to, and wrapping his arms around Makoto's neck makes him feel less like he's floating in the ocean waves. Wrapping his legs around Makoto's chest provides more security.

He realizes that he probably looks really stupid, like a little kid who's fallen down and needs his big brother to carry him and make it better. He's ten years old, he doesn't need to be carried!

Makoto probably isn't going to put him down, though, so to hide his embarrassment he hides his face in Makoto's shoulder. If no one sees that it's him, no one will know, except for Makoto but Makoto knows everything so that's okay. Even if it's big-Makoto who's weirdly tall and strong.

The walk to Makoto's house is short as always, and Haru relaxes a bit when he sees it come into view. He can be put down once he's inside, which is good. Not only because he looks silly, but because he's old enough to walk on his own and he shouldn't like being carried like he is right now. He shouldn't, but he does a little.

Also, it's annoying to have to be carried. He's always taken care of Makoto when it came to things of strength – Makoto makes sure he has tissues and brings him snacks and in return Haru scares away ghosts and kicks idiots who think Makoto's an easy target to make fun of. Which he is. Which is why Haru has to kick people sometimes no matter what Grandmama says.

Except that now, no one's going to make fun of Makoto. He's too big. Haru's not big enough to protect him, or help him with dishes, or anything. Makoto even has to carry him now.

It's frustrating. It's another thing he can't do.

Makoto walks into his house, and the sound of him coming home draws Mrs. Tachibana to the door immediately. “Makoto? Is that you? Why are you home instead of....oh!”

Haru turns his head slightly, just enough to see her. Mrs. Tachibana looks just like she always does, her hair longer but unchanged, and that's nice. She hasn't changed. She's staring at him, hand covering her mouth in surprise.

Makoto laughs weakly, and Haru clings to him a little tighter at the sound seems to transfer straight from Makoto's chest to Haru's body. It feels really weird, but...nice. It's comforting in a strange way, and he buries his face back into Makoto's shoulder because it makes him feel safer.

“...Well.” Mrs. Tachibana's voice is faltering, but as sweet as her son's. “I....is that someone related to Haru-chan? He...he looks just like him when Haru-chan was younger...is he borrowing Haru-chan's clothes? I remember that yukata, he wore it until he couldn't fit it around his waist anymore.”

“Um...” Makoto mumbles, shifting his weight. Makoto's always been a terrible liar – although honestly Haru was kind of worse, especially when it came to his feelings since Makoto was surprisingly good about hiding those but always knew what Haru was feeling no matter what. Does this Makoto do that to older-Haru too? He wishes he knew.

“Mom....I don't really know how to say this, but...this isn't a relative. It _is_ Haru.” Makoto shifts again, uncomfortable. Well, saying it out loud does sound silly. Turning up seven years younger is only in manga and stuff, after all.

“...Is...is that possible?” She whispers, but she must have seen something in it, since she's willing to ask that instead of denying it. “Are you sure? I mean, it's...not really...”

“It's not possible, I know, but I went over there this morning and he was like this. He thinks like he's ten again, too...asked me where Auntie and Uncle and Grandma Nanase were. I don't know what to do...but well, he can't stay at his house alone and we can't go to school like this. There's no real clothes or anything, so I brought him here. Ren still has a lot of Haru's old hand-me-downs, right? He at least needs something to wear.”

It's kind of annoying that Makoto's talking over him like Haru can't speak for himself. Well, not that he _wants_ to, and Makoto speaking for him never bugged him before, but then again Makoto had never been almost twice his age before.

Haru scowls into Makoto's shoulder. This is stupid. He hopes that if he goes to sleep tonight he'll wake up back home, where everyone is the proper age and his house isn't _empty_ and Makoto hasn't grown up without him. They were supposed to grow up _together_ after all.

Well, they technically did. Until this morning when he'd switched places with older-Haru for no reason at all.

“...Well. Well.” Mrs. Tachibana starts after a moment, before apparently collecting herself. “I don't know what to do, but we can certainly make sure he's dressed and well-fed. It's the least we can do. I'll go dig through the twin's clothes, why don't you give him some of the cookies in the kitchen? I just made those and wanted you to take some to Haru-chan after school anyways.”

With that, Mrs. Tachibana bustles off. She's just like Makoto, always happiest and busiest when it means taking care of someone. Makoto nods after her – it's weird to feel his jaw and neck move against Haru's hair, Haru feels so _tiny_ – and moves to the kitchen.

“Okay Haru-chan, I'm going to put you down now, okay? Just have a seat at the kitchen table and I'll get some cookies and milk for a snack. Don't wander off.”

Haru scowls sharply. As if he'd do that! Besides, this is Makoto's house, there's no need to wander around as if he's never seen it before.

“I'm not a little kid,” He mutters, a bit surprised. He hasn't talked since this morning when he first ran into big-Makoto, so the sound of his own voice startles him a bit.

His little bit of sulking surprises a laugh out of Makoto, a soft gentle thing like all of Makoto, but with big-Makoto's strange new size it buzzes through Haru's body like before, a weird tingly feeling. He feels torn between sulking at being laughed at and blushing at the nice feeling. He ends up doing both.

“Right right, you're not a little kid. You've always been very mature for your age, Haru-chan.” haur feels that Makoto's probably teasing him a little bit, but before he can sulk about that more he's suddenly being lowered. The hard cold floor under his legs is jarring compared to the warm strength of being carried, and he wobbles a bit before he's balanced again. “I'll get those cookies for you, okay?”

Makoto moves into the kitchen, pulling out a plate and a glass as he starts preparing the snack. It doesn't require any cooking so he doesn't have to watch Makoto to make sure he doesn't burn anything, so Haru just goes to sit quietly at the table like he was told, hands folded primly in his lap and feet swinging a little bit as he waits. He looks around, trying to see what's changed from what he knows.

Nothing much. The Tachibana is much the same as always, comfortingly so. The décor hasn't changed like his own house. He slumps in his chair, feeling a little relieved. This, then, hadn't changed, so that's nice.

Makoto comes back with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk, setting them in front of Haru. “Here you go. Mom just baked this a little while ago, they're still warm.”

Haru nods slowly, ducking his head when Makoto smiles yet again at him. The hand suddenly on his hair surprises him and he jumps a bit. Makoto laughs again, running those long fingers through Haru's hair.

“I'm going to go help Mom. Hopefully talk about this and see what we can do...if there's anything we can. This is a little too weird...but we'll manage somehow. So don't worry, okay? Enjoy your cookies, we'll be back in a little bit.”

The fingers slide away from Haru's hair and his head feels tingly. That's new, Makoto's never ruffled his hair before. Petted him a bit, flat-handed, but nothing like that. It's embarrassing and he hides his face behind his hair as Makoto leaves because he's blushing again.

Do big-Makoto and older-Haru touch each other like that? Haru kind of liked it. Maybe older-Haru likes it too, and that's why Makoto did it, since he's used to older-Haru.

Cheeks still hot, he takes a cookie and bites into it, slumping back into the chair as he settles in to eat his treat and wait.


	5. Chapter 5

After he finishes his milk and cookies, it takes Haru about fifteen minutes before he becomes well and truly bored.

While the fact that the Tachibana family's dining room hadn't changed much is comforting, it also means that there is nothing new or exciting to look at and absorb. With nothing to occupy himself, Haru wrings his hands together and kicks his feet and tries to think of something to do.

Well, first he can clean up after himself.

He takes the empty glass and plate into the kitchen. There's at least a footstool left in the Tachibana household, so Haru drags it over to the sink and gets up on it to rinse his plate and cup. He leaves them in the sink in the way he remembers Mrs. Tachibana liking to be washed later and puts away the footstool. That had occupied maybe five minutes or less of his time and he's still bored.

Haru frowns, looking around and trying to think. Sitting in the chair again is just going to be boring. Makoto told him not to wander off either, so he probably shouldn't go turn the TV on or something. He doubts they'd be mad, but it does feel a little rude. This isn't, after all, _his_ version of the Tachibana house, so he's a proper guest and shouldn't do rude things.

He looks towards the stairs. Well, it can't be wandering off if he goes to where Makoto is, right? And looking through clothes sounds way more interesting than sitting back in the chair.

Decided, Haru leaves the dining room and heads up the stairs to what he remembers as the nursery the twins lived in. The door is slightly ajar and he pushes it open.

It's a proper bedroom now, with a set of bunkbeds and a pair of desks, with a dresser against the far wall that big-Makoto and his mother are currently going through. Makoto hears the faint creak of the door and looks up. “Haru? You finished your snack already?”

He nods, even though the question is kind of silly cause he wouldn't be here if he hadn't. Makoto smiles at him. “Well, do you want to pick out some clothes, then? There's a pile here that should fit you, pick what you'd like.”

He gestures to a pile of clothes between him and his mother, and Haru nods again, walking over to sit next to Makoto. Makoto smiles at him again and so does Mrs. Tachibana, and Haru looks down at the clothes because it makes him feel shy for no real reason.

He shifts through the clothes, separating them into two piles of what he'd wear and what looks stupid, because Makoto never could be trusted with his own clothes so he doesn't really trust him to pick out clothes for someone else. Maybe big-Makoto has learned to be better at fashion, but Haru still prefers choosing his own.

It's really boring, though. Haru has never liked clothes all that much. Shopping for them was a chore and he never bothered with what he wore beyond not looking stupid and making sure there were as few layers as possible between him and swimming. It's really boring, and his stomach's full and it's comforting sitting next to big-Makoto because he's big and radiates a lot of warmth.

Haru doesn't notice that his head is nodding until he closes his eyes for a moment while debating if he'd be seen in public with a green-and-orange tanktop and suddenly wakes up again to find himself slumped against Makoto. He sits up straight as if he's been burned, scowling. He's not five, he shouldn't be falling over asleep!

Makoto doesn't even mention it, he just smiles that smile of his. Mrs. Tachibana has disappeared somewhere, how long was Haru asleep for? Why didn't Makoto wake him up? Haru feels his cheeks burning in embarrassment and he scowls down at a pile of shirts to hide it. He's ten, _ten_ , not five! He hasn't needed naptime since kindergarten!

“Well, I think these are enough clothes for now. Why don't we go watch TV or something, Haru-chan?”

Haru opens his mouth to tell Makoto to not add 'chan', but then closes it when he realizes that big-Makoto is quite in his rights to do so. He was older now. That was annoying. So he turns his head away and pouts slightly, ignoring the soft laughter coming from his left. He doesn't want to watch TV, anyways...actually, he wants to swim. Today has been so confusing, he needs to clear his head, let the water wash over him so he can think better.

He's brought out of his thoughts by big-Makoto's voice again. “Actually, you probably want to go swimming, don't you.” Haru finds himself looking at Makoto, a bit surprised. His Makoto was pretty good at understanding what he wanted, but he's surprised big-Makoto is still able to do it. It makes him wonder about his older self. Has he not really changed at all? Is there anything big-Makoto can't read about his older self?

Makoto continues talking. “Well, I don't know a public pool I can take you to...the only one nearby is at our, well, my school and well, everyone knows you there. I don't think it'd be a good idea to take you, especially since we've skipped school all day. Ah, but it is summer, so the ocean's still warm enough.” Makoto smiles. “Want to go swimming in the sea? Well, we have to go shopping first, but afterwards I'll take you to the beach.”

Haru's eyes widen. He loves swimming in the ocean, feeling the strength of the waves, but he's surprised. He can't see any hesitation at all in big-Makoto about the sea. Is he not still scared of it? What had happened to change that? Or is big-Makoto just that much better at hiding feelings? Haru can read his Makoto like a book, but all he sees is gentle happiness from this one.

The thought that his best friend could be a mystery to him is frightening.

Still, he _does_ want to swim, and maybe if they're at the actual ocean Haru will be able to tell better. It doesn't matter how big Makoto is, if he's still scared then Haru will keep him out of the water.

He nods a tiny bit, and Makoto chuckles and straightens up, holding out his hand to help Haru up as well. “Okay then, well, let's get you dressed in something different, then we'll go shopping and then the beach, okay?”

Haru takes the hand, remaining silent and watchful. He'll solve the mystery of big-Makoto soon enough.

As Makoto gets ready to go to the store, Haru takes off the yukata and gets dressed in a pair of jeans and a pale green shirt with some sort of cartoon animal on it. Makoto had laid out a pair of swim trunks, so he wears those instead of underwear since they're about the same and he'll be swimming afterwards anyways. They're a tad too big, but tying the waistband tighter fixes that.

Makoto's also changed his clothes, replacing the school uniform with khaki pants and a shirt the color of Haru's charcoals at home. He looks really good in dark colors, Haru thinks, and wonders if he should tell his own Makoto this when he goes home. Maybe it'll help his fashion sense.

Mrs. Tachibana accompanies them to the store, and Haru learns that while he was asleep it was decided that Makoto would stay in Haru's house with him until this...problem is resolved. Haru doesn't want to say anything but he's secretly thankful that he won't be alone in his house. He'd feel better if he was staying in the Tachibana house, but Makoto and his mother think that the less people that know about this, the better. Haru doesn't quite understand, but the worried looks they share convince him that it's for the best.

Shopping is pretty boring besides the fish section, and Makoto's mom won't buy the amount of mackerel he feels is necessary, but he doesn't say anything because that would trouble them. Besides, who's going to make it? Big-Makoto had proven his lack of cooking skills this morning, after all, and Haru doesn't know how to cook for himself yet. Maybe he'll start trying, though.

By the time they come back home and divide groceries evenly between the two houses, it's nearing time school normally gets out, and Mrs. Tachibana feels safe in letting them go to the beach without her, as they won't get in trouble for ditching school now that it's out.

Haru is more motivated to leave now. His face warms when Makoto grabs his hand seemingly on instinct as they leave the house, and he walks faster, almost dragging his older best friend along in his hurry to get to the beach. He's not only excited to swim, but getting there means one more mystery about the future will be solved. Is big-Makoto truly not scared of the ocean anymore? Is big-Makoto scared of anything? He's so big now that it seems silly, but he knows that his Makoto is scared of practically _everything_ and that doesn't go away easily. He'll feel better if he knows.

Unfortunately life just doesn't want him to find out too soon, because as they're walking through a shopping market, someone steps in front of them from an intersection and stops, and Makoto comes abruptly to a halt, too. Haru is jerked back when the teenager suddenly stops, and he scowls at the hand holding him back. What now?

“Makoto?”

An unknown voice saying his friend's name with such familiarity draws Haru's attention back front. Who's this?

“R-Rin!” Makoto gives this new teen a name as Haru studies him. Shorter than big-Makoto, this teenager has a serious face framed by long red bangs, with matching eyes set wide in surprise. Red hair, Haru thinks it's familiar, but otherwise he doesn't know this person. It's certainly not any kid in his school or swim club. Haru doesn't know anyone named Rin.

“Shouldn't you have practice...” This Rin starts speaking, and the flashes of his teeth as he talks look weird to Haru, but he trails off when his eyes flick down and land on Haru, eyes going even wider than before. Even before he speaks, Haru realizes that this Rin person knows him and just stares at him, trying to figure out how he could possibly know someone like this.

“Ha...Haru!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay I finally got this chapter out. :'D Anyways, dun dun dun, a wild Rin appears! Next part Haru gets to kick him in the shin, look forward to it!
> 
> Also, I apologize, this took forever. ): I got really stuck during the nap scene. But now that I'm past that more regular updates should proceed! (I'm really flaky though so don't kill me ;^;)


	6. Chapter 6

The Rin person continues to gapes mindlessly at Haru, and it's making him feel a little uncomfortable. He doesn't like being stared at so much. He shuffles slightly behind Makoto, putting his best friend as a big comforting wall between him and this strange guy.

Rin has really strange teeth for some reason. They're all jagged and sharp, like a shark's, and on full display since his mouth fell open to stare at Haru. He should probably go to a dentist and get that checked out. Shark teeth weren't normal, right?

Maybe he's not human. Haru didn't buy into monsters like Makoto did, but Grandmama _did_ tell stories...

Haru shuffles a little bit more behind Makoto.

After closing and opening his mouth like a fish a couple of times, Rin seems to get a hold of himself. “Hey, Makoto...this is...this has gotta be some relative or something of Haru's, right? People don't just fucking shrink outta nowhere. Is it a little cousin? Where's Haru?”

“Um...” Makoto begins, and since he's not any better at telling lies since this morning, Haru knows that the truth is going to come out. “This is...”

Haru narrows his eyes. He doesn't really like the pushy tone in this new guy's voice. Pushy people were just one little step away from being bullies, because Makoto could never say no to anything.

Reaching out to pinch a bit of Makoto's pants between his fingers, Haru leans out from behind Makoto a little to glower at Rin. Big-Makoto or not, Haru's not gonna let anyone push his best friend around. “I'm Haru. Who are you, sharkteeth?”

“Sharktee...what!?” The redhead yelps at the same time Makoto pleads “Haru!!” in that strange half-shout, half-whisper it seems all adults can do. Haru scowls, moving back behind Makoto. Why is he being scolded? Rin was the pushy one! Haru hadn't said anything bad, it was true, he _did_ have sharkteeth!

“Haru,” Makoto repeats, giving Haru a pleading look and he feels a little bad. Though he doesn't like this Rin guy so far, he doesn't want to make trouble for Makoto either. “Please don't cause a scene...”

“Makoto, you guys can't be fucking serious. This is reality, that can't be Haru! Is this some dumb joke? I bet Nagisa put you up to this. It seems like something he'd do. Seriously, who is this kid and where's Haru?” Sharkteeth – Haru feels he deserves the name – crosses his arms, frowning at Makoto. Haru feels his own frown deepen. He doesn't like it when people glare at Makoto.

Makoto's hands come up in his usual pacifying pose. “I...I know it's hard to believe, but it really is Haru! I found him like this this morning, it's like he's ten all over again. I don't know how, but I'm not lying, Rin. It's Haru.”

Sharkteeth clearly doesn't believe a word, as his eyes narrow and he takes a step forward, moving his arms to fist on his hips. He leans forward, lips pulling off those sharp teeth. “Makoto! Stop with the joke already! I'm not buying it!”

From his grip on Makoto's pants, Haru can feel him flinch just a bit. He recognizes the weak attempt at a smile on Makoto's face, the way his hands – still held up in pacification – wave a bit, the way he rocks back onto his heels just a little and pulls his shoulders down, just a little. All these signs add up to one conclusion – Makoto feels uncomfortable. Makoto is being bullied.

Haru likes Sharkteeth even less now.

However, while he doesn't know a lot of things about this weird future world, Haru _does_ know how to deal with Makoto being bullied. It's something he's always done. Haru glares at the redhead, waiting for his chance. Makoto will give it to him, he knows.

Sure enough, Makoto backs up a step to instinctively give Sharkteeth some space, leaving more of a gap between them. Haru takes it, moving around Makoto's legs enough to pull back one of his own and send it into a kick that hits Sharkteeth squarely in the shin.

Sharkteeth yelps and hops back almost comically, pulling the injured leg up to hold and saying a lot of words Haru's mother would box his ears for. “Ow, shit, what the hell!”

Haru glares at Sharkteeth, ignoring Makoto's scandalized cry of his name and the big hands suddenly on his shoulders. It's for Makoto's own good. He makes sure to stare the redhead directly in the eyes, it always makes bullies uncomfortable. “Don't bully Makoto.”

Sharkteeth, still holding his leg, gapes at Haru like he did when they first met. “...What?”

“Don't bully Makoto.” Haru repeats to make sure his message is clear. He's not sure he likes this situation. Makoto had called this guy by his first name with no honorifics, he clearly knew him well, but he was a bully. What was future-him doing, to leave Makoto so open to bullies? He knows better, surely!

A deep sigh comes from behind him, and the hands on his shoulders tighten. “ _Haru...!_ Rin's not a bully, he's our friend. Well, mine and yours in the future. He wasn't bullying me. Say sorry for kicking him, that wasn't very nice.” Haru looks up at Makoto in bewilderment. Makoto was uncomfortable, why was he defending this guy? Haru doesn't understand as Makoto moves his attention to Rin, smiling weakly again. “I'm really sorry, Rin. When we were little Haru kicked anyone who was bullying me, he didn't grow out of it until middle school.”

The redhead grimaces, but sighs and puts his leg down after giving it a last rub. “Whatever. I don't know what your prank is with toting around a little demon kid claiming to be Haru, but I guess I'll get to hear all about it from Nagisa on Monday. I need to catch the train back to Samezuka. See you next practice?”

“Yeah, see you. Sorry again, Rin!” Makoto waves as Sharkteeth backs off, returning it lazily over his shoulder as he turns and starts walking off. Haru's mildly glad he's gone, but something Makoto said to the guy catches in his head. ' _He didn't grow out of it until middle school_ '.

Haru doesn't understand. Surely you don't just grow out of defending your best friend from bullies, do you? It'd make sense if future-him stopped because Makoto grew big and didn't need him to anymore, but from the way he just acted it was obvious that big-Makoto did need bully protection. It didn't matter how big he was if he just rolled over like that. Maybe it had stopped because he looked too big – bullies were dumb, after all, and easily duped, so they might stop if Makoto looked too big and strong to bully, even if he was as meek and gentle as ever.

But Makoto hadn't said that. He'd said that future-Haru had stopped. That he'd grown out of it.

It bothers Haru. When did his future self stop caring that Makoto needed protection?

A deep sigh pulls him out of his thoughts, and he glances up. Makoto is rubbing at his face with one hand. “That could have gone better...maybe it's good he thinks it's a prank. If this spreads all over town...”

Sighing again, Makoto pulls his hand off his face and looks down at Haru, frowning slightly as he crouches slightly to come face-level with him. “Haru-chan, I know you just wanted to protect me, but you can't just kick people. It's dangerous and rude! I'll be fine, so please don't kick anyone!”

Haru frowns, and turns his head to the side, not wanting to acknowledge his words.

He still doesn't get it. What happened? Why isn't Makoto upset by Sharkteeth? Why doesn't his older self protect Makoto anymore? What's going to happen in middle school that makes him not protect his friend even when he needs it?

Haru's liking this future world less and less. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Yet another sigh huffs from Makoto, and he straightens out. Suddenly a hand is ruffling Haru's hair, like earlier today. “Thank you for protecting me Haru, but I really don't need it, okay?” Makoto smiles slightly. Haru watches out of the corner of his eyes to make sure it looks real.

“To be honest, I should probably punish you by not taking you swimming...” Haru's head whips around so fast his neck hurts a little and he's staring up at Makoto with pleading eyes. Oh no, oh no, stupid Sharkteeth, it's all his stupid fault for bullying Makoto and making Haru kick him and making Makoto disappointed! He needs to go swimming! Maybe things will make sense in the water, and they're so close...!

Makoto laughs, covering his mouth with one hand to slightly muffle the soft sound. “Aha, maybe Rin's right, maybe I spoil you too much, but...no, we'll go swimming, okay Haru-chan? Just promise me you won't kick anyone else, okay?”

Haru nods energetically. That's a small price to pay to be able to swim – after all he only said not to _kick_ people. There are other ways to fend off bullies than kicks.

Makoto smiles and holds out his hand for Haru to take. “All right, let's get to that beach, okay?”

Haru wraps his smaller hand around Makoto's warm palm and they continue walking. Haru makes it a point to walk closer to Makoto's leg and glower at anyone who looks even slightly shady. Makoto sighs in fond exasperation, but he doesn't tell him to stop. It's very different from other times they've walked after encountering something that made Makoto upset. Those times were full of Makoto clinging to Haru's hand, following behind him like a shaky shadow, with a tiny, teary smile in gratitude for Haru saving him.

Haru purses his lips as they walk, fingers gripping tighter around Makoto's hand. Makoto looks down at him, but Haru pretends not to notice. He's thinking.

Really, how did things change so much?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A dribble of plot appears! I finally have an idea where this is going to go - I legit had no idea of anything after this confrontation with Rin hahaha.
> 
> I'm trash who takes too long for updates I'm sorry ):

**Author's Note:**

> For those who want to listen to me babble about Free! and SnK and shit, I caved and made a tumblr. You can find me at clover-magic.tumblr.com. I don't reblog shit but I do post random headcanons and maybe fic snippets and screenshots of my Haru and Makoto sims being dumb. (Seriously I don't think Haruka!sim is certified to live on his own)


End file.
